Railway frog



Aug. 27, 1935. E. w. cARuTHERs RAILWAY FROG Filed Feb. l, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (f/TTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 27, '1935 j RAILWAY FROG.

Eugene W, Carnthers,V Secaneg'Pa.; assignor -to The Pennsylvaniav Railroad Company, vPhiladelphiaa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Applicatie; :February 1, issiyscrial No. 709,344

` 5 claims. {(01. 24er-455') This invention relates .to railway .frogs and its principal 4object-.is to relieve frogpoints and the adjacent wings of ythe intense hammerfbiows to vdiichthey are ordinarily subjectediandto cause. the wheels .of ,passing vehicles-.toren smoothly,

through the frogs at turnouts or like .track .struc- The use of `conecl wheels 'on railway vehicles has become general and has resulted in thesub#I jecticnof frog pointsto severefliammer .blows Where the frogsl are. manufactured with their tread vsurfaces ina level. plane.To relieve this condition it has proposed'to raise .the tread surfaceszof the Wings-at the throat, but so fari as I .am aware such schemes have not been al-r togetixer successful in somerespects.

Frogs, especially .those of the railbonnd type wherein a manganese central body is employed,

` shortly after they ,ane placed `in service llose ,tneir original 'surface characteristics by reason of eoldflow-Of the .surface metal incident .to .heavyV loadings. As distingnisnedy from ordinary wear, the yflow of `the tread surface nietaiof frogs, irnmedatelyfafter they are placed service, is very pronounced :up to a certain point and is neglible thereafter. :Following the .original displacement of its...surface metal, afrogracquires a substanf.- tially permanentiset, the runningsurfaces there Y alterv changing oniyvery gradually as they are 2 subjected to wear.

Hence frogs which are .de-u Signedvwith precisiones to .the original form'cf the surfaces lmay not :perform .ecientiy afterl'cold flow-.of the 'metal has occurred.V

Moreover, Lto-relieve frog points .of intense load# ings,.it is desirableto avoid abrupt or .sudden shift of the 'load from the wing rails to fthewpoint and lto'so design the tread 'surfaces .at each .side

ofthe `pointlthat th'epressure vof the loadwilllfbe distributedproportiona'lly between the frogfpoint v andtheadacent wing rail-s. I

Accordingly, the .frog of thefpresentiinventioii y is ldesigned to ycnf'ercome the above recited `diffrcullties, asi'wellras tosatisfy many 'other .conside erations, such as simplicity and economy of man y ufaeture, andconformity with standard railroad practice.

Other objects and 'advantages characterizing my invention will become more fully' apparent i from the detailed description of one embodiment or example thereof which follows hereinafter having reference to the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings:

Fig. I represents a plan view of a frog of my invention.

Fig. II represents an enlarged cross section of thef-s-a-meftaken as ,indicatedby the linesIIf-I-'I of Fig, I, and showing a portion of a coned wheel in passageover die frog` point.

Fie. III representsan enlarged plan viewjof the medial portion of theifrog showing clearly the"frogpoint,y wings and flangeways; and,

Fig. IVy represents a longitudinal cross section of thefsame, takenras indicated by 4the lines IV-Ivj einem. y

In :the drawinesthere p invention, and thefpartcularfftype selectedfor illustrationi-s a ra-ilbmmd manganesesteel frog', Itcomprises generally heel rails l, 2, wing rails Stil., and'rlanseways 5,15. between the rails ,-.The rails pronerrnerge withja V.centr-a1 manganese body J'whih includes thefrogipoint 8 and wirrgpor.-V tions Q',HLV inasmuch as many other types of frossare embraced within my inventioak the. reference herein to heel rails Yand wing rails is general; n0 distinction loe-.ins made between theV manganese steelfporton at vthe center. of ,the `frog-yand. the* carbonjsteel -rail portions atk the ends thereof.

is .shown frog of my In its .general form theft-reg shown inthe o'lrawA Y ings is similar to frogs now'in'usef. At the end there isa filler ,block Il,and atthe heel `end there isan additional-@1er 11.061? )|21 and 1?. foot guard L3.; Y

regions. .of the froglin aceordancewti @16.91.4210 ticeV of my invention.; is best shown IV, commencing a-tthe boel of the rffrog, Drfflbly near the 'end of the heel `riser :Mr the'tredm aceof the point 8 is. upward towards .tn'noint end '.(tbe actual mint of` frog) L5, auch effected gradually with respet @thi/t0n ofztnevfrog indeatedat .a2-,1?- Atthe ,Damit @ed it .where cold aflow `of 'metal maybe expected to be very pronounced.: the tread surface airrachs itsmaximum elevation, the;fvfltilfl height above the top plane of the frog beinedetermined by;

the .macteo :ultimate displacement. of surfe@ metal which be estimated with fair accuracy by aotiuziil:testsvl s Commencing atthe-toe of the frog and prefere--A ably near the end of the manganese body 1,- the tread surfaces of the Wings 9, I0 are inclined gradually upward toward the point 8, such inclination being represented at b. The tread vsurinclinat.ionsbeing represented-at a, andbetne' v faces b continue upward above and beyond the Y' point end I5 to a region just beyond the peak I6 of the raised surface where there is a sufficient gage spread so that the load.- is supported entirely upon the point of the frog. It will be especially observed'that the anglebetween the tread surfaces b and the top plane -'of thev frog is such that a standard coned wheelofV average length of servicegsuch as 'represented at I1 in Fig. II, moving over the frog from the toe towards the heel, after reaching the point end l5, will bear jointly upon the point 8 and the wing I0, until the wheel reaches the region beyond the peak |6.' .Frorn this region I6`to the end of the manganesewings' 9, Il), the tread surfaces are inclined downward to the top plane of the-frog as indicated at c.

The relation of the coned wheel surface`rl8 tov region of the frog, where the point `has a relatively small gage spread, the wheel load is dis' tributed'ancl a smooth passage is afforded for the wheel, relieving the point of the hammer blowsfto which` it would otherwsebe subjected.

In Figli the wheel Il, in its Yfull line position, is shown passing overthe point end1|5-of1the frog. The wheel IT is also-,represented in dotand-dash'lines at-.Ila -s'howingthe `position assumed by lit while' passing overY the peak I6 of the :raised tread surface ofthe-wing. il). twill be noted'that in passing from theV full 'line position to the dot-and-dashY line position the wheelA Ill-is in'-ffectshiftedlaterally with respectto -the longitudinalaxis-of the frog point 8 and that the'tre'a'd Vsurfaces-a and b are so designed as to compensate for suchlateral shiftv ingof the wheel so that the loadthroughout this region'is distributed between the vpoint' `and the vwing IULgjBeyon'dthe peak I6 of the frog the load is' caused toV be gradually transferredy onto the point 8 until itis-'carried solely thereby.

EIn'arailboundtyp?"0f frgsuch as shown in the drawings, I preferably employ'inclined ltread surfaces for the point andwingswhich extend throughout Ya region of the frog substantiallycoincidentV with thelength ofthe central 'bodyf or insert 1.- Alfter-suchffrogs have beenplac'edrin service, the tread surfaceV ofthe point-will lose its original inclination due -to surface flowv of metal and will acquire a substantially permanent set when its` top'surface has been reduced to approximatelyithelevel ofthetoplplan'e ofthe frog.-Vr V Tha-amount loffmetal'- flow increases reduced-ini4 height incident to surface flowY of f the metal, but will always extend abovelthe point end I5,*and the difference-'inl elevation Vat the overlapping areas of the wing/'and point `tread surfaces will be 'maintainedsubstantially constant,`preserving the smooth running characterist'ics of the frog". 'I'he'or-iginal angles selected fork thev inclinedsurfaces fof the "wings andpoint will necessarily depend upon the amount of sur- Y face ow experienced with like frogs tested in service.

The inclined tread surfaces a and b are preferably made long and at to enable the frog to '1; A railway frog comprising a point and v Vwings, the tread surfaces of said wings being inclined gradually upward above the normal top plane of the frog in a direction from-.the toe'towardsthe point-and continuing upward above andV beyond the point end and'forming such an angle with the tread. 'surface of the point that an average lconed wheel will engage both said wing. and point surfaces substantially throughout the region of their overlap with a gradual transfer of .the load from one surface to the other.

2. A railway frog accordingto claim l charac-- terized by the further fact that the tread surface of the wing reaches a peak in its upward inclination at a substantial distance beyond the point end and is then inclined abruptly .downward to the normalvv top.v plane of thepfrogA 3. A railway frog according to claim 1 characterized by the further fact that thetread surface of the wing reaches'a peak 4in .its upward 4inclination immediately in advance of uthe position where the wheel load is .supported entirely by the point and is then inclined abruptly downward to the normaltop plane of the frog.

4. A railway frog according to claim 1 characterized bythe further fact that the tread` surfaceof the point, when'the frog is initially placed in service, is throughout the region of :overlap between the wing and. point surfaces inclined gradually upward above the normal planevofthe frog in a direction from the` heel toward the point end. Y 1 5. A railbound frog comprisingrails' merging with .a central metal body, saidbody havingl a point, wing portions at each side thereof'Vv and angeways ,therebetween, the tread surfaces of said wings being inclined gradually Vupward above the normal top plane of. therfrog in adirection from the toe towards .tliepoint and extending above and beyond the point end, and the tread surface of the point .being inclined gradually upward above the normal plane ofthe frog from they heel toward the pointend, .andA therregions of said inclinedtread surfaces being coextensive EUGENE w. CARUTHES.. 

